Great Plains SPCA
Heroes for Pets. Partners for Life.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Great Plains SPCA provides adoption, intake, behavior, and community outreach programs in order to facilitate a better life for pets and people in our community.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Adoptions & Lost Pet Reunions
The Great Plains SPCA Pet Adoption Center is located in Merriam, KS. Every adopter receives personalized attention from our trained staff to ensure that the personality and needs of the pet fit the expectations and lifestyle of the new adopters. Because of the life-saving commitment Great Plains SPCA has to every pet we serve, we are proud to report a 98% live-release rate for all pets who enter our shelter. We serve 4,000 pets. Great Plains SPCA serves as the animal housing agency, managing the lost pet population for nine municipalities within Johnson County. Our staff work diligently to reunite lost pets with their families.
HERO Team Program
The Humane Education Resources Outreach program has been a Great Plains SPCA program for several years. HERO Team members serve the animals in our community who are most in need of a helping hand. Whether it is a pet living outside without proper shelter, an owner who cannot afford to buy pet food, or a pet who needs medical treatment, our team is committed to helping improve the lives of all pets in our community.
The HERO Team can help pets who need the following and more:
Food assistance to keep from going hungry, shelter or straw for appropriate outdoor housing, relief from being chained, advice for behavioral issues
Volunteer & Foster Program
Great Plains SPCA’s work on behalf of the animals in our community would not be possible without the dedicated and compassionate service of our talented volunteers. Our volunteers provide our shelter pets with exercise and enrichment during their stay, support our special events, help to care for pets recovering from medical procedures, provide administrative support and more! Dedicated foster families provide for animals who are recovering from an injury or illness, need extra socialization, or are too young to be placed up for adoption. They receive love and care in a home setting, until they are ready for a forever family. Our foster program is vital to our mission, and our foster families will tell you that helping a needy pet is a rewarding experience!
Behavior
The Behavior program provides behavior modification and training to the public and to the animals in-shelter to help give them the skills they need to lives in homes. The Behavior program evaluates the organization's animals to confirm they are safe and adoptable and provide enrichment and play for animals in the Organization's care.
Where we work
External reviews

Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of animal adoptions
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Adoptions & Lost Pet Reunions
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of animals returned to their owner
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Adoptions & Lost Pet Reunions
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Total pounds of pet food and litter distributed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
HERO Team Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Average number of days of shelter stay for animals
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Family relationships
Related Program
Adoptions & Lost Pet Reunions
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Decreasing
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
We strive to drive change in our community through innovative programs that promote adoption, outreach and a better life for pets and the people who love them.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
We offer a lifelong, full-circle approach for pets and their human companions with our three-pronged approach: prevention, adoption and retention.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
We proudly report a live-release rate of 98% or higher. Our adoption and intake center assists the public with adoption services, lost pet retrieval, and foster care for dogs, cats and small domesticated animals.
Our HERO program focuses on supporting disadvantaged pet owners to help educate them about appropriate pet ownership and care, including providing assistance in the form of food, shelter, and other resources, as well as transportation for spay/neuter appointments.
Our Behavior program provides behavior modifications and training to the public and to the animals in-shelter to help provide the skills they need to live in homes. The Behavior program evaluates all of our animals to ensure they are safe and adoptable. The team also provides enrichment and play for the animals in the Organization's care.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Our 2022 length of stay was 27 days. We adopted out 2,178 animals and reunited 385 animals with their owners in 2022. Our 2022 live release rate was 98%. We managed 777 animals in foster care in 2022. We provided 60,089 pounds of dog and cat food to families in need through our pet food pantry. We served 673 families and reached 1,647 pets in need through our HERO team. We transferred 429 pets to our care from high-kill shelters.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Great Plains SPCA
Board of directorsas of 03/15/2023
Chuck Laue
N/A
Term: 2016 - 2023
Chuck Laue
Pam Scott
Jill Truitt
Thad Hubler
Amy Fowler
Jared Coleman
Carter Quick
Paul Weber
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 03/15/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.